Blogroll

Evolution of Thinking about Cloud ERP Software

Gartner Research article shows reader interest and areas of thought.

Dennis Gaughan, Managing VP at Gartner Research recently published an article entitled Will Core ERP Move to the Cloud? In Dennis’s words, the topic of “ERP in the cloud generated a tremendous response, prompting a bunch of requests for more thoughts and opinions.” In his follow up, Reader Response to ERP in the Cloud,” Dennis summarizes the discussion and makes some interesting points.

Several people that read Dennis’s article mentioned the following discussion points.

Need for deployment flexibility. Not surprisingly, people wanted different deployment models.

Concerns over pricing. Many are intrigued by SaaS, but are unsure that SaaS pricing will save them money in the long run.

Cloud adoption varies by industry, company size, and application category.

Collaborative business models are supported by the cloud and can add value above and beyond the applications.

Cloud ERP Discussion Remains Spirited

The key takeaway is that people are interested in the Cloud and how they can use it to improve their ERP software deployments.

The bullet points above reveal that the Cloud ERP discussion has moved to the next level. A couple years ago, people were primarily concerned about saving money and worried about security. Today, many customers, vendors, and resellers are asking and learning about deployment and collaboration. In the process, they are finding that the security issues are in fact not security issues, but risk and deployment issues. Also, many are understanding the differences between web-based software and traditional client-server despite the attempts of some vendors to confuse the issue.

Cloud ERP on the Right Track

Discussions about Cloud ERP are on the right track:
- First, many are interested.
- Second, people are thinking beyond the standard pricing and security issues.
- Third, people are thinking creatively about how to benefit from the technology.

As we move into 2011, expect more creativity and exciting case studies that describe how businesses are taking advantage of Cloud ERP software.

2 Responses to “ Evolution of Thinking about Cloud ERP Software ”

jodie_microsoft_smb on December 14, 2010 at 9:43 am

Microsoft Dynamics ERP SaaS is one example of online accounting. You can still opt for an industry focused solution, keep some of the services in-house, and completely migrate to an on-premise solution if your needs change. This link will give you more details: http://smb.ms/Outreachb5WzBv

Lots have been written around the potential and the success of ERP Cloud and investing companies are making. I still not sure and need some clear pointers if the case and the acceptability from the organizations still is as promising as it is brought out to be.

I do understand for the Small Scale companies, it’s an option and may make sense looking at the investment that would be required in the alternative option. These have limited challenges on the Security , connectivity and access that may be required.

But when it comes to the medium to large organization, I am still struggling to get myself convinced on the ERP Cloud. I foresee following inhibiters :
Multi – Tenancy : Are the organization open and is the S/W deployment and implementation and support feasible with the varied process variations that exist. How are these/would be managed.
Data Bifurcation and Security : there do exist tolls that can control the data security, but the marriage of those with the ERP product to drive the secure environment and no potential of allowing access to the other party environment really feasible to implement and manage !
Integration : How does the integration with IDM / SSO infrastructure work when the organization is not purely on single Cloud or with Hybrid structure